Prime Video and IMDb TV, Amazon’s premium free streaming service, today announced a licensing deal with Sony Pictures Television which will provide both streaming services a suite of classic television series from legendary producer Norman Lear. This collection marks the largest volume of Norman Lear complete series content ever available to stream.
227 and Diff’rent Strokes will launch on Prime Video on Thursday, July 15, and will be available to Prime members at no additional cost to their membership. Additional titles including The Jeffersons, Sanford & Son, and Sanford will launch on Prime Video later in 2021.
All in the Family, Good Times, Maude, and One Day at a Time will launch Thursday, July 15, on IMDb TV. This will be the first time that episodes of Maude and all seasons of All in the Family are available to stream.
“Life is a collaboration. Writing, directing, and producing films and television is perhaps the most collaborative work of all. In 2018, our Act III Productions sat with the team at Sony Pictures Television and formed a partnership to not only produce new content but to bring a new awareness to my former Embassy library. That Sony found a home for that library with Prime Video/IMDb TV where new generations could find it, is the best present a man entering his 100th year can have,” said Norman Lear.
“Norman Lear is a national treasure and his impact on television and popular culture is immeasurable,” said Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios. “We are so honored to bring his classic television series to Prime Video and IMDb TV so new audiences and a new generation can laugh, enjoy and be inspired, like so many of us have been throughout the years.”
“Norman Lear’s series have never been more relevant or timely. With this deal, audiences will be able to enjoy more episodes than ever before of these groundbreaking series on Prime Video and IMDb TV. We’re thrilled to be able to partner with Amazon to bring these iconic shows to new audiences for 2021 and beyond,” said Keith Le Goy, Chairman, Distribution and Networks, Sony Pictures Entertainment.
At nearly 99 years of age, Norman Lear’s dynamic career in Hollywood has encompassed both the Golden Age and Streaming Era. Lear and his team have captivated hundreds of millions of viewers with their television shows. At one point, Lear was responsible for seven of the top 10 shows in America. Most recently, Lear executive produces and co-hosts LIVE in Front of a Studio Audience… , alongside Jimmy Kimmel. The series set record ratings for ABC and won the Emmy award for Outstanding Variety Special for two consecutive years. In addition to television, he’s the executive producer of two feature films in theaters now, I Carry You With Me and Rita Moreno: Just A Girl Who Decided to Go For It.
Lear has enjoyed a successful career writing and producing programs like The Colgate Comedy Hour and The Martha Raye Show, which ultimately lead him to captivating 120 million viewers per week with his iconic shows of the 1970s and 1980s including All in the Family, Maude, Good Times, The Jeffersons, and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. Lear is a 2017 Kennedy Center Honoree, a recipient of the National Medal of Arts in 1999, a winner of the Peabody Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016, and a proud member of the inaugural group of inductees into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1984. He has won six Primetime Emmy awards. Lear is a father to six, a grandfather to four, and the husband of Lyn Davis Lear.
